The snow had pushed her and the coffee table against the fireplace, which saved her life. Everybody said a small prayer of thanks that all of them, especially Stephanie had survived the disaster.
Mike asked about the people living in the other homes.
"I know the people living next to us were away for the weekend." Chris replied. "I think most of the homes in this area are rented by city folk to use when we want to `get away from it all'." She just shook her head at the irony.
After a few hours, a California patrol truck slowly made its way toward the house. Everyone let out a cheer and Mike and Arlene got out of the cramped car to greet the patrolmen. Two troopers quickly came out of the truck to meet them.
"Is everyone alright?" One of them asked. "Anybody missing or need to go to the hospital?"
"Yes, no and no." Mike said, "We were almost carried away, but we're fine." Peter, Davy and Marcia got out of the car and joined them. The second officer looked at Peter and Davy for a second, then at Mike and his mouth dropped open.
"Hey, aren't you guys??"
"Yeah, we are but its more important to get these young ladies to safety." Peter said.
"You're right." The first officer replied, "There could be more avalanches. I'm going to call for backup to get you ladies down the mountain and look for any survivors."
"I'm Arlene Anderson." Arlene told the troopers. "Can you call our parents to let them know we're ok?"
"I'll do that, hun." The second officer said.
Just then, two figures were spotted by Marcia coming up the road.
"MOM! DAD!!" She yelled, and started to run after them. Arlene followed her.
"How did they get up here?" The first officer asked the second. "The road was supposed to be closed to traffic."
"Don't underestimate the zeal of parents looking for their children, officer." Mike said, "I've got a little boy of my own."
Mister and Mrs. Anderson tightly hugged Arlene and Marcia.
"Oh, thank God you two are safe!" Mrs. Anderson told her daughters.
"Chris and Stephanie are safe too, Mom." Arlene said and she and Marcia quickly filled their parents in on what had been going on, from rescuing Micky from the ditch to finding Stephanie buried under the snow.
"But our house is gone?" Marcia said sadly.
"It doesn't matter." Their father told them, "As long as you girls and the Monkees are safe and sound."
Slowly they climbed through the deep snow.
"Where's your car, Dad?" Marcia asked him.
"We drove past the barriers and up as far as we could, then we walked." Her Dad answered. "We weren't going to wait for news about you girls."
As they walked over to the patrol truck, Micky, Chris and Stephanie saw them coming and jumped out of the car as well. Chris carried Stephanie over to her parents and there was a joyful reunion of the Anderson family.
The first officer got out of the truck after radioing the station.
He walked over to the Monkees.
"I'm glad to see everyone's ok. I alerted the base and they're sending up more trucks to transport everyone out of here."
"That's good." Davy said.
The Anderson family, now back together again, walked over to the pop group. Gerry Anderson came over and shook their hands.
"Thank you gentlemen." He said, voice breaking up, "Thank you for all you've done. For helping save Stephanie."
His wife Ginny thanked them all as well. She had tears in her eyes as she gave them all hugs and kisses. "Thank you so much." Was all she could manage.
"You're welcome." They told them.
"No good deed goes unpunished." Gerry told them. "I'll make sure you guys get the best record deal ever!"
The Monkees were glad to here that, but somehow it didn't seem as important to them anymore. They had done good for someone, and that was a reward in itself. The Anderson girls gave all the Monkees hugs and kisses as well.
Soon, rescue trucks came up the snow and debris clogged road and everybody was taken back to the patrol station for medical checkups and warm food.
Gerry Anderson was good on his word. He worked very hard and used all his skills and got the Monkees a sweet recording deal. Not only did they get a much bigger percentage of the profits, they now were given total artistic control over their albums. They were allowed to choose what songs they wanted to record plus they were allowed to play their own instruments. Any instruments they didn't play, the Monkees made sure the musician who did play was given credit on the album.
So, the Monkees got to work and soon released `Headquarters', with a `special thanks' given to Chris, Arlene, Marcia and Stephanie Anderson.
Plus a credit to Arlene Anderson for playing the flute on one song.
THE END
Chapter 14
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